Organized February
14, 1845, from Scotland County and named for Henry Knox, Revolutionary
War general.

County Seat: Edina

Address:

Knox
County
P.O. Box 116
Edina, MO 63537

Photograph

History

During the 19th century
Knox County had only one courthouse. Edina became the county seat in May
1845, and for the first two years the county rented facilities. On
November 9, 1847, the county appropriated $1,600, which was borrowed
from the internal improvement fund, for a 40-by-30-foot, two-story
building to be built in the center of the square.

Apparently, the court drew the
first plan, which was then elaborated by Martin Baker, Jr., who had been
appointed commissioner in 1846. In May 1848 a $1,650 contract was given
to James W. Baker. The building had been unoccupied for some time and in
deplorable condition when fire destroyed it on Christmas Eve 1885;
although arson was suspected, a contemporary report claimed that the
county was not too concerned about apprehending the offenders.

Knox County continued without a
courthouse, renting facilities for county business until 1934 when the
county collector proposed the idea for building a new one; the court
encouraged him to investigate grant possibilities. For several months a
small informal committee worked surreptitiously making preparations (the
county collector was accustomed to this; a few months later he was
indicted after almost $30,000 was missing from county funds). The
committee contacted an architect for preliminary sketches, which they
submitted with a grant request to the Public Works Administration before
making their actions publicly known in Knox County. The grant was
approved, providing that the county pass a bond issue, which they did in
August 1934. The grant was for $80,000; 70 percent of it was for a
government loan. The court then formally approved architect William B.
Ittner's design, which had accompanied the initial request for a
two-story, brick building with stone trim. The courtroom and jail were
on the second floor.

The building contract was let to J.
E. Williams, St. Louis, for $61,882 in November 1934, and ground
breaking took place December 18, 1934; cornerstone ceremonies were
conducted April 6, 1935; the building was dedicated September 13, 1935
(see Figure 2). Total costs came to about $80,000. Ittner was a
respected St. Louis architect known principally for his school
buildings. This is his only courthouse work in Missouri.

The first County
Court of Lewis County met at the house of John Bozarth, a short distance
below the present site ofLaGrange,
on Wednesday, June 5, 1833.GREGORY
F. HAWKINS and JOHN TAYLOR was the first clerk, and CHILTON B. TATE the
first sheriff, and both were in attendance and presented their
credentials.The absent
judge, ALEXANDER McMORROW, forwarded his resignation to the court , and
JAMES A. RICHARDSON was appointed his successor.

The third term of
the county court met at the house of MORTON BOURNE; the fourth term was
held at the house of the U. S.GREGORY,
at Canton; the fifth at the house of JOSEPH TROTTER, at Canton and the
sixth meeting held on June 2, 1834, was in the new courthouse in the
town of Monticello.

The first Circuit
Court for Lewis County was directed to meet July 14, 1833, at the house
of JOHN BOZARTH.Judge
PRIESTLY H. McBRIDE failing to appear, on July 17th, the
sheriff declared the court postponed.The first meeting of the court was held October 14, 1833, at the
house of U. S. Gregory, in Canton, Judge Priestly McBride presiding.The first lawyers to be admitted to practice before the courts of
the county were THOMAS L. ANDERSON, URIEL WRIGHT and STEPHEN W. B.
CARNEGY.